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Redhead74

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Has anyone else seen this amazing documentary from last year about Rodriguez? I just saw it recently and it blew me away. Such a talented musician and a truly humble man. If only there were more people in this world like him. The irony of a man rejected by his own country for being Latino yet embraced by another culture abroad riddled with racial problems makes the story incredibly poignant.

I downloaded two albums of his 'Cold Fact' and 'Coming From Reality' from the early 70s and it is now my regular morning soundtrack while I get the day started.

This song from 1971 'Cause' is one of my favourites:

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He got caught up in record company politics and poor promotion, and the record store guy should've been able to figure out that a live album from Australia in the late 70s (I'm sure this was in the news there when the film came out), but I guess everything happening over a decade ago, he didn't have as much info at the time. It was a South Africa story, more than a bio about Rodriguez.


There's another one being made about another Detroit band - Death - that should be out soon.

Maybe when they figure out what happened to the royalties, they'll make the sequel. It's good to see him getting attention from the film and the movie deserved to win the Oscars.

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Fantastic documentary. Think I recommended it in the Film Thread a while back.

The irony of a man rejected by his own country for being Latino yet embraced by another culture abroad riddled with racial problems makes the story incredibly poignant.

Not sure about this though. He was a victim of shitty promotion not racism. America couldn't really reject him if they never heard it. Sugar Man is actually sampled on an old Nas track funnily enough. It was a stroke of crazy luck he got heard in South Africa at all.

Cause is my favourite of his too. It's a beautiful song.

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Fantastic documentary. Think I recommended it in the Film Thread a while back.

I'm a bit late off the mark with this one and I was thinking someone else would surely have already mentioned it. :)

The irony of a man rejected by his own country for being Latino yet embraced by another culture abroad riddled with racial problems makes the story incredibly poignant.

Not sure about this though. He was a victim of shitty promotion not racism. America couldn't really reject him if they never heard it. Sugar Man is actually sampled on an old Nas track funnily enough. It was a stroke of crazy luck he got heard in South Africa at all.

Cause is my favourite of his too. It's a beautiful song.

I think you have a point there. There's no doubt that the original record company he signed up with fucked him over. That black guy that was interviewed seemed like he was lying through his teeth, I didn't believe a word he said. Those royalties from South Africa were going somewhere and clearly not to Rodgriguez. It was suggested in the film that racism was an element in his lack of success and I wondered if his sometimes playing with his back to the audience was because he felt judged for his race or just shyness, I don't know. There's no doubt though that back then the music industry wasn't as organised as it is today. I doubt that would ever happen to someone in this day and age, I guess he was a victim of the time he lived in. Great guy though, a model human being.

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Fantastic documentary. Think I recommended it in the Film Thread a while back.

I'm a bit late off the mark with this one and I was thinking someone else would surely have already mentioned it. :)

>>

The irony of a man rejected by his own country for being Latino yet embraced by another culture abroad riddled with racial problems makes the story incredibly poignant.

Not sure about this though. He was a victim of shitty promotion not racism. America couldn't really reject him if they never heard it. Sugar Man is actually sampled on an old Nas track funnily enough. It was a stroke of crazy luck he got heard in South Africa at all.

Cause is my favourite of his too. It's a beautiful song.

I think you have a point there. There's no doubt that the original record company he signed up with fucked him over. That black guy that was interviewed seemed like he was lying through his teeth, I didn't believe a word he said. Those royalties from South Africa were going somewhere and clearly not to Rodgriguez. It was suggested in the film that racism was an element in his lack of success and I wondered if his sometimes playing with his back to the audience was because he felt judged for his race or just shyness, I don't know. There's no doubt though that back then the music industry wasn't as organised as it is today. I doubt that would ever happen to someone in this day and age, I guess he was a victim of the time he lived in. Great guy though, a model human being.

Clarence Avant had to shut down Sussex Records and seize everything over to the IRS in the mid 70s, but Bill Withers was able to buy his master tapes with the help of Columbia Records. I got the impression Avant was bitter about that time in his life, but I don't know if he has any idea where any of that stuff has gone 30 plus years later. Do I feel he owes it to Sixto to find out? Absolutely.

If Columbia Records had bought out all of Sussex Records' back catalog as well as Bill Withers, it would be a non-issue. I know in Walter Yetnikoff's book, Avant was crying over losing Withers, and Walter told him to just start over. He did, and he did very well for himself.

It's like asking Jimmy Iovine about some indie label he was a part of decades ago that didn't take off.. why would he care about it when he's a businessman and focused on bigger things, than an obscure artist who had bad distribution? There were a lot of artists that fall victim to bad distribution deals.

I do think the movie being high profile on this will get those questions answered.

People will always get ripped off in the entertainment industry.

Edited by dalsh327
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That's true. The one thing that wasn't clarified in the film though was where those royalties from South Africa ended up going. I thought that was really interesting and from Clarence Avant's answers to the questions I got the impression he was lying. That might be an unfair assessment though. There's definitely more to come out from it that would be interesting to hear about.

I really doubt Rodriguez cares that much about the money though. He's making plenty now and gives it away to his family. It's kind of a fairy tale ending for him and his family. Good on him.

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That's true. The one thing that wasn't clarified in the film though was where those royalties from South Africa ended up going. I thought that was really interesting and from Clarence Avant's answers to the questions I got the impression he was lying. That might be an unfair assessment though. There's definitely more to come out from it that would be interesting to hear about.

I really doubt Rodriguez cares that much about the money though. He's making plenty now and gives it away to his family. It's kind of a fairy tale ending for him and his family. Good on him.

He's playing Coachella and Radio City Music Hall, so the story does have a happy ending to it.

There's a movie similar to Sugar Man coming out.

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It really does have a happy ending. I love the fact that he's been getting paid handsomely since his re-discovery and has given it all to his family. He still lives in the same house he lived in whilst working in demolition. In Detroit, of all places. I take my hat off to the man, he really is a most humble and likable character and his ability to write a lovely melody with some cracking lyrics doesn't go astray either. Good luck to him, he deserves all the fortune and fame he gets from now on.

Will definitely check out that "A Band Called Death" doco when I can. :)

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That's true. The one thing that wasn't clarified in the film though was where those royalties from South Africa ended up going. I thought that was really interesting and from Clarence Avant's answers to the questions I got the impression he was lying. That might be an unfair assessment though. There's definitely more to come out from it that would be interesting to hear about.

I really doubt Rodriguez cares that much about the money though. He's making plenty now and gives it away to his family. It's kind of a fairy tale ending for him and his family. Good on him.

He's playing Coachella and Radio City Music Hall, so the story does have a happy ending to it.

There's a movie similar to Sugar Man coming out.

hell yeah! didn't know they were making a doc about Death

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